13th parliamentary election: Appeals open until 9 Jan as 41 candidates apply on day one

Appeals against decisions taken by returning officers during scrutiny of nomination papers for the 13th national parliamentary election have begun at the election commission (EC).

Forty one candidates across the country, including high-profile independent candidate Tasnim Jara from Dhaka-9, on the first day, Monday, filed appeals seeking restoration of their candidacies after their nomination papers were rejected by returning officers.

One additional appeal was submitted seeking the cancellation of a nomination in a constituency.

Appeals against acceptance or rejection of nomination papers can be filed with the EC until 9 January. The commission will dispose of the appeals between 10 and 18 January.

Following scrutiny, nomination papers of 723 candidates were rejected across the 300 parliamentary constituencies, while 1,842 nominations were declared valid.

The EC has arranged designated booths in front of the EC building in Agargaon, Dhaka, to receive appeals.

As of Monday evening, the EC said appeals had been filed as follows: three from the Rangpur region, five from Rajshahi, three from Khulna, one from Barishal, one from Mymensingh, 15 from Dhaka, seven from Faridpur, five from Cumilla, and two from Chattogram. No appeals were filed from the Sylhet region on Monday.

Of the five appeals from the Cumilla region, one was filed against the acceptance of a nomination. It was learned that this appeal challenges the acceptance of the nomination of independent candidate A K Ekramuzzaman from Brahmanbaria-1.

To contest as an independent candidate, nominees must submit signatures of support from 1 per cent of voters in their constituency along with their nomination papers. During scrutiny, returning officers typically verify a randomly selected sample of these signatures.

In Tasnim Jara’s case, the returning officer found that eight out of ten verified signatories were voters from the Dhaka-9 constituency, while two were not, leading to the rejection of her nomination.

Jara filed an appeal with the EC on Monday afternoon, challenging the decision. She said she would continue the legal process to remain in the race.

“Within a day and a half, nearly five thousand people spontaneously gave us their signatures and showed immense support. They even set up booths voluntarily,” Jara said. “Out of respect for that support, we will continue this legal fight.”

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin visited the appeal submission booths on Monday morning.

Speaking to newspersons, he said, “We are still convinced that we can deliver a completely fair and credible election with everyone’s cooperation.”

He urged people not to worry about the upcoming election.

Later in the day, EC secretary Akhtar Ahmed also visited the booths. There have been allegations that independent candidates were attacked while collecting voter signatures and harassed at returning officers’ offices.

Asked about this, the EC secretary said he was not aware of such incidents. If any irregularities had occurred, he said, the respective returning officers would look into the matter.